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Glenn 'Pop' Warner: Football Innovator

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Glenn Scobey “Pop” Warner coached at Pitt from
1915 to 1923. Under his command, the Panthers burgeoned into a national power in
college football.

Few college coaches have influenced their players and peers as significantly as Warner. His Pitt teams were 60–12–4 and were recognized as national champions in 1915, 1916 (unanimously), and 1918 (unanimously). Warner won his first 30 games as Pitt’s head coach. His unbeaten 1916 squad was one of the greatest in college football history and became known as “the Greatest 11 in the World.”

Warner’s teams operated from both the single wing and the double wing, formations that sprang from his imagination. His other creations included the practice of numbering plays, teaching the spiral punt (Warner also was among the first to advocate the spiral pass), huddling before plays, and the use of an unbalanced line for more blocking strength.

A national network of football leagues for junior players was named for him. In 1997, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 32-cent Pop Warner stamp.